tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34683954352234661212024-03-05T21:24:21.201-08:00My Life with PurlsAn eclectic page of resources, ideas & inspiration from a mom on the path of raising 3 little girls laughing, sighing & sometimes tripping along the way.Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02371895505357913147noreply@blogger.comBlogger84125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3468395435223466121.post-79375195711543646422016-10-10T19:14:00.002-07:002016-10-10T19:24:28.802-07:00Day 10: It's Getting Cold OutsideThe change in weather combined with all the talk about the cinch saks gave the girls an idea.<br />
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Homelessness is a considerable problem where live. Every time we go to the grocery store, you can be certain there will be people asking for help at every parking lot exit. I think it's because my girls grew up in a small town and weren't used to witnessing homelessness this frequently, it bothers them very much.<br />
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Add that to the fact that it's getting cold outside and the girls wanted to do something to help.<br />
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Enter our first "Ripple Project."<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Quin came up with this logo for our project</td></tr>
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This year, the girls gave our homeschool the name. "St. Teresa's Academy" in honor of St. Teresa of Calcutta ( Mother Teresa's title after being canonized a saint).<br />
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The quote of St. Teresa's they selected to guide our school is "I alone cannot change the world but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples."<br />
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Ripple Projects will be our attempt to be a bit more consistent with our charity work. I'm hoping it makes the kids realize that they can truly have an important impact on our community and it's their responsibility to do so.<br />
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So, back to the project.<br />
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Being that they felt the Cinch Saks were made very well, are quite weather resistant and are easy to transport, they hatched the idea of filling them up with supplies and distributing them to the homeless.<br />
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Our goal is 10.<br />
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Talking about what kind of products would be helpful got the girls thinking about what life must really be like for those on the street. They ended up choosing items that addressed: hygiene, health, food, pets & comfort and came up with a list. We've seen a similar project where folks suggest items to buy at the Dollar Tree. But our budget is tight so we looked online and then headed to Costco to see if we could buy things in bulk cheaper.<br />
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We walked Costco, photographing the items on their list and taking note of price & quantities. Then it was home for all that math by hand. Turns out, we found many items cheaper at Costco than Dollar Tree.<br />
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We'll also be using "super couponing" to get some of the supplies for next to nothing.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXw7faNjdgYXU92xd-FVnN1RvMWOQrecWOzCOoe7_rt90k5C02IwQ73N9B5ZIZr0bmBtXA3DBUwGXoNZMK5k9109jxSH9L0qRUJItZOo_k-3aMqZXSymDFMhuh2gZI5jvJOcpIOrnwdQOz/s1600/IMG_7522.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXw7faNjdgYXU92xd-FVnN1RvMWOQrecWOzCOoe7_rt90k5C02IwQ73N9B5ZIZr0bmBtXA3DBUwGXoNZMK5k9109jxSH9L0qRUJItZOo_k-3aMqZXSymDFMhuh2gZI5jvJOcpIOrnwdQOz/s400/IMG_7522.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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The plan is this: each bag costs $20. Our commission on the $20 is $5. We will use that commission money to purchase supplies. Additionally, because we're the party hostess, we'll use that free product credit for our $200 party to also add to the till to buy supplies.<br />
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After announcing it on my private facebook page, we immediately got a donation of 20 handknit hats for the bags from a lovely friend here in Oregon! How wonderful!<br />
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A bit later, a message from another friend offering some canned food to include in the saks. Amazing!<br />
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Finally, we stopped at Joann's to find fleece on sale for $2.99/yd plus we had a coupon. We bought a few yards of camo fleece that the girls will sew into scarves.<br />
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So to date, we have handknit hats, warm fleece scarves and some canned food.<br />
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I hadn't thought about the potential "ripples" our project might cause in others. People are so incredibly generous. In a time when we have such awful headlines in the news with this election, it's nice for the girls to see this positive side of humanity up close.<br />
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We're still hopeful to get 10 of the cinch saks purchased as donation to the project but we realize that $20 may be more than some folks can or would like to contribute. Therefore, we are happy to take any donation toward the cinch saks. It can be paypaled to our project at mylifewithpurls at gmail.com.<br />
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If you'd like to sponsor a complete Comfort Sak at $20, <a href="https://www.mythirtyone.com/1867915/shop/Catalog/ItemDetail/3039" target="_blank">here's a link</a> to the Thirty One website. We thought the camo color would be perfect.<br />
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The skies the limit on this project! Our goal is 10 but wouldn't it be incredible if we could do 20 or more?!<br />
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We're still having fun with this Toteschooling Project. If you want to join us for the special $1 consultant fee that ends in just a few days, here's a <a href="https://www.mythirtyone.com/1867915/shop/Catalog/ItemDetail/3039" target="_blank">link</a>.<br />
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<br />Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02371895505357913147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3468395435223466121.post-72619851304966144092016-09-30T23:42:00.002-07:002016-10-01T00:28:30.943-07:00Day 9: Presentations with fun not fear<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
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One of the primary reasons I came up with this idea was to encourage my quiet girl to relax and learn that public speaking can be fun.</div>
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Up until now, we've focused on math skills (calculating percentages for donations, etc); more thoughtful writing (vision statements) and even social issues (which causes they wanted to support). </div>
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But now it was time to dig into the pile of bags from the consultant kit and get to presentations.</div>
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I was running late making dinner so I thought I'd throw the idea out there and see if the girls would be interested. They were.</div>
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We talked about how a company like Thirty-One's success is entirely based on communications. They are relying on the consultants to communicate in person and online to sell the product. Therefore, they've hired talented professionals to put together their print and online media in the most compelling, enticing manner possible.</div>
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Out of the consultant kit, I chose the Cinch Sac. I chose it for a couple of reasons because: 1. I thought it was one of the more kid-friendly products and 2. I thought it seemed overpriced and not like such a great item from my experience with cinch sacs put out by other companies.I thought this might give them more of a challenge.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv58P6n9UlDvAkE-JkhyJMBNPanpTS62rDaZnIlpVYyJ24R8RhPC6e0KHqs4ezSyhNbOfOnKo_VJOkrYnUzO3_yKmRdk1-pphCt00mMneLFPLWQVQd9d2IAYLydAxIwhCNXjKFDNi3PwXj/s640/blogger-image--1259180178.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv58P6n9UlDvAkE-JkhyJMBNPanpTS62rDaZnIlpVYyJ24R8RhPC6e0KHqs4ezSyhNbOfOnKo_VJOkrYnUzO3_yKmRdk1-pphCt00mMneLFPLWQVQd9d2IAYLydAxIwhCNXjKFDNi3PwXj/s640/blogger-image--1259180178.jpg"></a></div><br></div>
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Well first off, I opened the packaging and quickly discovered this wasn't close to similar bags I've seen or the kids have gotten for free as promotions at the State Fair, etc. This is actually a really nice bag with a lot of carefully considered finishes that I bet will keep it lasting for a longtime.</div>
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Then I gave the bag to the kids. I told them to get a piece of scrap paper and their thesaurus. Their task was to brainstorm, individually, all the attributes of the bag and some good suggested uses to be used as the basis for a 3 minute presentation that I would film. I encouraged them to look up new and better adjectives and to consider their audience. Were they talking to the moms who would do the buying or the kids who would put it on a wishlist?</div>
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Immediately, they began taking turns carefully investigating the bag's features and then scribbling down notes. See the photo above. They were laughing, hiding their ideas from each other and filling their pages with writing - even the 7 year old. Getting the 7 year old to participate was great because she tends to be a perfectionist and if she can't write the entire page without a spelling error, she's not interested. But somehow, she got caught up in the fun and was writing away.</div>
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So the plan is that sometime this weekend we will film their first "draft" of their presentation. The older two need to give me their presentations written up also.</div>
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Then they'll watch their own. After, I'll show them some of the videos the home office provides for consultants and ask them to compare and contrast. What did they communicate well? What could use improvement? How was their delivery? Did they effectively reach their target audience?</div>
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Using their self-critique, they'll get a chance for changes and a second filming. </div>
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My hope is that there is a vast improvement between each one's first and second draft, that they'll feel a little less self-conscious with an item to focus on and they'll ask to do more. </div>
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Could we accomplish this without the actual bags? Of course. We could go to the pantry and pick out any product and pretend to sell it. However, we wouldn't necessarily have the professional marketing material to compare and contrast. You could look at a commercial but that's sort of the final product. What we have access to is more of the how & why to present the item as deemed by the company. And then there's the added fun of raising money for the non-profits they chose and the family goal (which still hasn't been determined).</div>
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I'll let you know how it goes. </div>
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I'm so pleased that this project brings out laughter with them. The bad news is that they've made me promise not to post their videos here or on fb. Maybe if they come out really well, the girls will change their minds. </div>
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Oh hey - great news! Thirty-One is running a special for the first two weeks of October. You can now <b>join as a consultant for just $1.</b> With this option, you don't get the kit of goods but you can quickly earn some product with your first sales. </div>
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The way Thirty-One works you pay a $14.50 per month fee to access your online website. But you could sign up for the $1, pay the first $14.50 and then cancel before the second month kicked in if you just wanted to try it for a little bit and see if it's worth it. </div>
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Or who knows, you might get hooked and love to earn the 25% commissions for some extra holiday cash. Plus, you also might just sign-up to get the discount for your own holiday shopping. Send me an email if you have any questions: mylifewithpurls at gmail.com.</div>
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Here is a <a href="https://www.mythirtyone.com/1867915/shop/join" target="_blank">link about the $1 sign-up</a>. We sure would appreciate you signing up under me, Becky Smith, to support Project Toteschooling. </div>
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Oh - if you're interested in the Cinch Sac above, <a href="https://www.mythirtyone.com/1867915/shop/Catalog/ItemDetail/3039" target="_blank">here's a link</a>. They are $20 each and really are nice - grommets at the openings where the cord goes through; the cord is squishy and much softer than that hard cord some on the market have and there's a huge zipper compartment on the front. The fabric is multiple thicknesses with the pocket and really easy to wipe clean. This isn't just a kid's bag by any means. </div>
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Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02371895505357913147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3468395435223466121.post-17566007756914449232016-09-30T10:56:00.001-07:002016-09-30T11:01:07.086-07:00One Month inProject Toteschooling is 1 month down, 9 to go.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXEhejzUNIfZGWp66e_vs_6N7VVEOSYTeQ5qr6okfKPblKxPzYmSDTpmWvxe94fgAn1fAH1Sg_PcFPqq0sJVhbuqPP5aVkXiKj3ODVLhAJm5UQCcu42omEFjOqHNpt09o3_SlF5DXWw5Vx/s640/blogger-image-1943032024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXEhejzUNIfZGWp66e_vs_6N7VVEOSYTeQ5qr6okfKPblKxPzYmSDTpmWvxe94fgAn1fAH1Sg_PcFPqq0sJVhbuqPP5aVkXiKj3ODVLhAJm5UQCcu42omEFjOqHNpt09o3_SlF5DXWw5Vx/s640/blogger-image-1943032024.jpg" /></a></div>
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As I expected, it was a slower start than the girls thought but, still it was a start.<br />
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I don't think there's anything wrong with learning things don't always come easy and perseverance is important. </div>
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While the fundraising aspect might have been slow, the learning and motivation to learn was far off the charts of my expectations. </div>
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From studying non-profits and therefore becoming aware of the different types of need in our world to learning & crafting their own mission & vision statements, this was fun and meaningful work.</div>
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I'm really happy I followed my crazy idea and went for it.</div>
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There's still today to order to get in on our fundraising efforts for our September npo that supports veterans. </div>
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If you'd like to, here's a <a href="https://www.mythirtyone.com/1867915/shop/home?_ga=1.11972276.1666900208.1472485517" target="_blank">link</a>. </div>
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Or, if you want to get in on the fun, Thirty One is offering a kit-free joining special of $1 for two weeks starting tomorrow- October 1st!</div>
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You can use it to get the 25% product discount for some holiday shopping; to earn some extra money by having a party or 2 or as homeschool curriculum like we are. </div>
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Here's a <a href="https://www.mythirtyone.com/1867915/shop/join" target="_blank">link</a> to find out about the consultant special. If you prefer, you can still sign on with the purchase of the consultant kit for $99. The site will have the info about the $1 special starting tomorrow, Saturday, Oct. 1st</div>
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So, here's how our first month went:</div>
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Hey, it's $25.63 more than we donated last month 😀 </div>
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Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02371895505357913147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3468395435223466121.post-3952152484872301782016-09-27T12:33:00.002-07:002016-09-27T12:36:06.153-07:00Day 8: Puppies, Penguins, People & MoreAfter lots of searching and deliberating, the girls have compiled the list of ten non-profit organizations that will benefit from Project Toteschooling. It was fun to see what they deemed important. No surprise animals were in the mix. But I also loved seeing that they are concerned for other kids less fortunate than them. One more step forward in battling entitlement in our household!<br />
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We will take our Thirty-One earnings each month and divide it equally between a donation to a non-profit and a contribution toward a family "something" (yet to be determined).</div>
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Here's the list of the winning NPO's:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT37pUs1e4F_mZUGd9rhpK1-ioihpzWhOw52B7sJsBusa4W3IyxELu0YVVnQwoTnbpexsVDV73yPOfSufSFf2JdbAKdjv5zpc8CJjUGvbz180QaLN258F1ZLfOrLCtGEE0vJG2s1PlpmSx/s1600/COVO.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="100" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT37pUs1e4F_mZUGd9rhpK1-ioihpzWhOw52B7sJsBusa4W3IyxELu0YVVnQwoTnbpexsVDV73yPOfSufSFf2JdbAKdjv5zpc8CJjUGvbz180QaLN258F1ZLfOrLCtGEE0vJG2s1PlpmSx/s200/COVO.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<b>September:</b> <b><a href="http://covo-us.org/" target="_blank">Central Oregon Veterans Outreach</a> </b></div>
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Supporting numerous Veterans and their families by providing a wide variety of housing alternatices, as well as job search preparedness and placement assistance.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiuZqhGVQJK94yedTnHNxBMXS0n5uAYI7oStpgVo6NrCViI-8jm893qDZRYYSTzKZdFIA9ZszerdWrnZKxbWTnJuhwuhN0UwPCgyioJ6iB7STbuFaJ181VFnvnvAjag7jdiaw2XDa1Ym49/s1600/Bend+Spay+and+Nueter.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiuZqhGVQJK94yedTnHNxBMXS0n5uAYI7oStpgVo6NrCViI-8jm893qDZRYYSTzKZdFIA9ZszerdWrnZKxbWTnJuhwuhN0UwPCgyioJ6iB7STbuFaJ181VFnvnvAjag7jdiaw2XDa1Ym49/s200/Bend+Spay+and+Nueter.png" width="188" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">October: <a href="http://www.bendsnip.org/" target="_blank">Bend Spay and Neuter Project </a></span></span></b><br />
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<b style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">November: <a href="http://www.warmupamerica.org/" target="_blank">Warm Up America! </a></b><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #fafafa;">Committed to motivating, training, and coordinating volunteers nationwide to knit and crochet afghans </span></span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #fafafa;">and </span></span><span style="background-color: #fafafa; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">clothing for people in need. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlNkgAYWSt6_VsZ6W_WHagsoXjtEJqWzAr2wcrjztZEGA3g5OtIByNE0BrGf6Fxr8OhBacJvjZXoTmMN5wOwf2TBiS6oNRR2IxAf5pquwW7qDiBpBvlgiMT3UP59iOtzTzAX72zxkA5Cni/s1600/The+penguin+foundation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="187" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlNkgAYWSt6_VsZ6W_WHagsoXjtEJqWzAr2wcrjztZEGA3g5OtIByNE0BrGf6Fxr8OhBacJvjZXoTmMN5wOwf2TBiS6oNRR2IxAf5pquwW7qDiBpBvlgiMT3UP59iOtzTzAX72zxkA5Cni/s200/The+penguin+foundation.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<b style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">December<span style="background-color: #fafafa;">: <a href="https://penguinfoundation.org.au/" target="_blank">The Penguin Foundation </a> </span></b><span style="background-color: white; color: #545454; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #545454; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">was established to protect and preserve one of Australia's most important natural assets - the little penguin</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr5nX7OqHYwN9bLc8fHZNDzLD6ato4zYe7iYzRIMgwHMXVssJ5LFZf-TF32iVk6ON31lgHtrNTlzAjdF8CF5kN7RCL1OMvJhKiU2oA-Roij_cO1ge3tTu2p4opVjnIuZR_NZOV9pmsjbNY/s1600/kids+in+game.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr5nX7OqHYwN9bLc8fHZNDzLD6ato4zYe7iYzRIMgwHMXVssJ5LFZf-TF32iVk6ON31lgHtrNTlzAjdF8CF5kN7RCL1OMvJhKiU2oA-Roij_cO1ge3tTu2p4opVjnIuZR_NZOV9pmsjbNY/s200/kids+in+game.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<b style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">January: <a href="https://www.kidsinthegame.org/" target="_blank">Kids in the Game</a></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg37tN2XtWDhLvX29IqmpL_6-dt4LDhJ6cNdw5m_q1nHtnkvkfrAoZabfo1yB-Ae0yGst9uhh0EpeBSRJzatPaYnZMsr4HqRyPe-Ivf4he9OwIPx3iVwfFjquuSQYa59tkxJiFwb4KEGPgD/s1600/night+night.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg37tN2XtWDhLvX29IqmpL_6-dt4LDhJ6cNdw5m_q1nHtnkvkfrAoZabfo1yB-Ae0yGst9uhh0EpeBSRJzatPaYnZMsr4HqRyPe-Ivf4he9OwIPx3iVwfFjquuSQYa59tkxJiFwb4KEGPgD/s200/night+night.jpg" width="193" /></a></div>
<b>February:</b> <a href="http://www.projectnightnight.org/" target="_blank">Project Night Night</a> <span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "tahoma" , "geneva" , sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">donates over 25,000 Night Night Packages each year to homeless children 12 and under who need our childhood essentials to have a concrete and predictable source of security and an increased exposure to high-quality literacy materials during their time of upheaval.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrJgbvqYM15mR8RWD4_DOHwjEoU-JFRx-8u5A_VSeG2lVaWg2whi1uQ_1ECpRPGZwZoDj3k1CzGbqs47r6CzlX3qpAy1aGarvTweZ35WGyZnpmq2d-JVIytawuw95Tr4nL4bUrAmTUL2nG/s1600/afghans+for+afghans.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrJgbvqYM15mR8RWD4_DOHwjEoU-JFRx-8u5A_VSeG2lVaWg2whi1uQ_1ECpRPGZwZoDj3k1CzGbqs47r6CzlX3qpAy1aGarvTweZ35WGyZnpmq2d-JVIytawuw95Tr4nL4bUrAmTUL2nG/s200/afghans+for+afghans.jpg" width="192" /></a><br />
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<b>March:</b> <a href="http://www.afghansforafghans.org/" target="_blank">Afghans for Afghans</a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.3333px;"> is a humanitarian and educational people-to-people project that sends hand-knit and crocheted blankets and sweaters, vests, hats, mittens, and socks to the beleaguered people of Afghanistan.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinUd_CQHCOz4EtSOdd4njocNysvCzb-i__-tYn6Fs_fnNdiAbzM76y02wAalXneL5ocEXrGnEsRMHA2k1USl6AScWC3JYWd1CKQ7-U9DNmDUWt5igdfMudyZ7cjAoJa50xPmiVZiuG5uO1/s1600/pencles.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinUd_CQHCOz4EtSOdd4njocNysvCzb-i__-tYn6Fs_fnNdiAbzM76y02wAalXneL5ocEXrGnEsRMHA2k1USl6AScWC3JYWd1CKQ7-U9DNmDUWt5igdfMudyZ7cjAoJa50xPmiVZiuG5uO1/s200/pencles.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div>
<b>April:</b> <a href="http://www.pencilsforkids.com/" target="_blank">Pencils for Kids</a> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: "open sans" , sans-serif; font-size: 15.3333px;">By providing classroom supplies, programs, libraries and schools to communities in need, Pencils for Kids works to create a world in which all children have the opportunity for an education.</span><br />
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<img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMnqOU06ldd4qbFT3S8il_4lbGIFXdlQPy9ZG0TAUNTQ4W3IZ1PcxGbf721wi1AQWwa4qE1-pS581SsJUYZCtsnIW9I6d7hr8oA7iP-p-L4n7K7lTWcTe4f8_PltXXCnEl50CC_KlZef_M/s200/ANIKE+1.png" width="200" /><b>May: <a href="http://anikefoundation.org/" target="_blank">ANIKE Foundation</a> </b>is to promote educational development in Africa by providing educational resources from developed nations to needy institutions in Africa.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHxQJmNerSls0N5khedz4Ro_60f06URYV5mcP4SzfnXi8s7eg8Yep9g-ANjojCdXKzlvO92kPqOEjHh6VMsnYQYKD9efg4UzSpphyphenhyphen7GUtGWGIQExsTbcqS2tmNfUe_9XKFuKBeYRtyI1o2/s1600/hope+for+women.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="136" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHxQJmNerSls0N5khedz4Ro_60f06URYV5mcP4SzfnXi8s7eg8Yep9g-ANjojCdXKzlvO92kPqOEjHh6VMsnYQYKD9efg4UzSpphyphenhyphen7GUtGWGIQExsTbcqS2tmNfUe_9XKFuKBeYRtyI1o2/s200/hope+for+women.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<b>June:</b> <a href="http://www.h4wi.org/" target="_blank">Hope 4 Women</a> <span style="background-color: white; color: #4a4a4a; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.923px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4a4a4a; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.923px;">has been bringing dignity to women around the world since 2006.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4a4a4a; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.923px;"> </span><br />
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As always, if you'd like to join us in our endeavor, here's a <a href="https://www.mythirtyone.com/1867915/shop/home?_ga=1.41288994.1666900208.1472485517" target="_blank">link</a>.<br />
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Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02371895505357913147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3468395435223466121.post-30456768707988465652016-09-26T14:54:00.001-07:002016-09-26T15:35:11.709-07:00Pillows for PupsA new month is coming up & Project Toteschooling has chosen The Bend Spay & Neuter Project as our beneficiary in October.<br>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6OCkcBz-jij85yKdY_IhnSqojj6fpBVp03iD1L5qgaL9BV6WDSE0Q4ZZOE3xzQ-hjtDW5yNE5seaKMFi8jUNV9HReRGb2s0Txx9p_lNSpXsvqdQXByx6hBTvhyphenhyphenYBsMTqa0bKHp-26cBT5/s640/blogger-image-346946440.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6OCkcBz-jij85yKdY_IhnSqojj6fpBVp03iD1L5qgaL9BV6WDSE0Q4ZZOE3xzQ-hjtDW5yNE5seaKMFi8jUNV9HReRGb2s0Txx9p_lNSpXsvqdQXByx6hBTvhyphenhyphenYBsMTqa0bKHp-26cBT5/s640/blogger-image-346946440.jpg"></a></div>
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One of next month's hostess specials is their great customizable pillows.<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue light" , , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"> They're 70% off for the host of a qualifying party.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg0bXj_7vPStUsagj42SWreCloy4A5CCFykvJIHsRuyJt5z5qaUUePjytIF6O12w6uPeanNpHNvivS8Nk71iUMrlYOPJ1FcpHZHnsq0N9YBDxjpJ6wKkuxfCwuT3Sp9RA1kM8jQlv_vx4c/s640/blogger-image-563854483.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg0bXj_7vPStUsagj42SWreCloy4A5CCFykvJIHsRuyJt5z5qaUUePjytIF6O12w6uPeanNpHNvivS8Nk71iUMrlYOPJ1FcpHZHnsq0N9YBDxjpJ6wKkuxfCwuT3Sp9RA1kM8jQlv_vx4c/s640/blogger-image-563854483.jpg"></a></div>
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The above is one I designed for our family. The Thirty One website walks you through the personalization line by line & then let's you see a mock-up of the finished product before you order. Kind of fun, right?</div>
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And next month they will be adding embroidery options to the pillows. </div>
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Here'a link to the <a href="https://www.mythirtyone.com/1867915/shop/Catalog/ItemDetail/8112?isSummary=False" target="_blank">Thirty One site</a>. If you'd like to host an online or catalog, email me at mylifewithpurls at gmail.com. </div>
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If you don't want to host a party you can purchase the pillows at regular prices at the website also. </div>
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Thanks for supporting Project Toteschooling!</div>
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Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02371895505357913147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3468395435223466121.post-89579129158928004112016-09-26T09:56:00.001-07:002016-09-26T10:03:45.392-07:00The Start of Bend Bunny Barn<div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Notice the hat that got for entering votes. </td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizIm-rQTxkUU-lKow1HbD4olqg9b_otmMEhBFwj5FB5xxPYdy_SVFV2Z4_I9NqnEyLz7AKnA0kEjObSHtQiI5xoXFoYWYxQs3vutGZT_v6PZXLCZCOOCYPLBCMbCEpFV8-h82y17FdgYnd/s640/blogger-image--725645083.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizIm-rQTxkUU-lKow1HbD4olqg9b_otmMEhBFwj5FB5xxPYdy_SVFV2Z4_I9NqnEyLz7AKnA0kEjObSHtQiI5xoXFoYWYxQs3vutGZT_v6PZXLCZCOOCYPLBCMbCEpFV8-h82y17FdgYnd/s640/blogger-image--725645083.jpg" /></a></div>
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We're entering our fourth week of school and it's right on time that I start to question my methods with the girls.<br />
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Their friends are settling into their public school experiences, photos of homecoming celebrations are flooding fb and this little voice starts to say, "Are you <i>sure</i> this is the right way?"</div>
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But then, I witness this happen in my kitchen before breakfast... the girls working together, in a fair, systematic way to develop a large project together. This time it's Bend Bunny Barn - the culmination of their 4h bunny breeding endeavor.</div>
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I was completely engrossed in reading and didn't even know what they were working on until I started hearing words like, "That's one vote for..."; "Now we will need..."; "What do you think about..."</div>
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No different from any other kids, now that they are 13, 11 and 7 their opinions are strong and largely inflexible (especially where sisters are concerned). So the current conversation definitely caught my ear.</div>
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It can be so challenging to forge an independent path for your kids especially in this day & age of social media where opinions aren't as carefully delivered as they would be face-to-face. Few parents would disagree that the public education system is broken and yet they are the same who are first to fire question after question at you about the choice to homeschool. </div>
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The fact that, without my interference, my kids are working on a project in a kind, fair, creative way leads me to believe The Smithgirls are doing just fine. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp9jxlIfXPwu0FNC84aZRKExuPE1LYliWozPmz8nVZHHNqHI51SjdhtC_1qDXX8xDUAru9OmiEg43Om_hvX0tQ00M5wrinBnt4fVOFbAnl7-buBS9VZUw0J6d_n5bRlUbOui1BpEHY4PG3/s640/blogger-image-1981969544.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp9jxlIfXPwu0FNC84aZRKExuPE1LYliWozPmz8nVZHHNqHI51SjdhtC_1qDXX8xDUAru9OmiEg43Om_hvX0tQ00M5wrinBnt4fVOFbAnl7-buBS9VZUw0J6d_n5bRlUbOui1BpEHY4PG3/s640/blogger-image-1981969544.jpg" /></a></div>
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(Please excuse the backgrounds in my photos but these are real, not staged photos. Also, Q bought the face masks at Dollar Tree for Lilly as a joke because our house is small and Lil & her germs just won't stay still. It was hysterical that they made her wear one this morning so she could participate.)</div>
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Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02371895505357913147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3468395435223466121.post-88602026021365470312016-09-23T07:53:00.001-07:002016-09-23T08:03:24.358-07:00Slowly Getting Organized<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue light" , , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">Sometimes, I'm a bit too busy and moving a little too fast to realize very obvious facts. </span></div>
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Signing up for Thirty-One would help me get organized! I've been focused on paring down our possessions but now to organize what's left.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguRbTtbebBhTGOSTRYn44qbWpNZop8ZruTp_NWmJcNFn3MYiARZUqxstntcYG9OkHZlKFmDaUEz1SE7vrAXHWFckKEuk7SF28I_23Mb0U8QMvpqnln6M7PSY6hc4bTepcAdYGYFNgLMTH2/s640/blogger-image--1342432380.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguRbTtbebBhTGOSTRYn44qbWpNZop8ZruTp_NWmJcNFn3MYiARZUqxstntcYG9OkHZlKFmDaUEz1SE7vrAXHWFckKEuk7SF28I_23Mb0U8QMvpqnln6M7PSY6hc4bTepcAdYGYFNgLMTH2/s640/blogger-image--1342432380.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue light" , , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">Do you see that cute bit of red plaid? That is the solution to Lilly's math manipulative problem. </span></div>
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My kids love anything tactile to help them learn. We have the base ten cubes that click together, the tiny blue cubes that come in singles, 10 rods and 100 flats and more. </div>
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This sweet little bag was part of the consultant kit (so I consider it free 😊) and it's perfect. Just the right size and is the perfect length to fit in our hutch. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI7EdBU_37KRiJOfelJN6PNiYc0M-bWJhuCryRXxVXEvb0ZuYRC2wpxQPDTUwlZH0b0BDSsEpWPITVWGCr7JBPQCFNf6P6ZBWHNJDJAJTk_9ritJJxGhoV1frwonoNLJANF7XUUEW8sBhD/s640/blogger-image-695858663.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI7EdBU_37KRiJOfelJN6PNiYc0M-bWJhuCryRXxVXEvb0ZuYRC2wpxQPDTUwlZH0b0BDSsEpWPITVWGCr7JBPQCFNf6P6ZBWHNJDJAJTk_9ritJJxGhoV1frwonoNLJANF7XUUEW8sBhD/s640/blogger-image-695858663.jpg" /></a></div>
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It's called the All-In Organizer & sells for $20 (or it comes as 1 of the 10 bags in the consultant kit for $99).</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinmWyRg36rE-BKmz-tncfToAPGdW49mJwwXWUGjH8cbgwfV2e07WVjwDbW1tevQwDuHSJi3kzKnzbjH69WHhL0HC2_KMCXb3L6gXQLBe3Uy8UC5V_pfepSk0v5QWnociMYFKr5yFsgS7Fm/s1600/all-in+organizer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinmWyRg36rE-BKmz-tncfToAPGdW49mJwwXWUGjH8cbgwfV2e07WVjwDbW1tevQwDuHSJi3kzKnzbjH69WHhL0HC2_KMCXb3L6gXQLBe3Uy8UC5V_pfepSk0v5QWnociMYFKr5yFsgS7Fm/s1600/all-in+organizer.jpg" /></a></div>
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I have visions of time saved when I tell Lil to get her math materials out and also look forward to the missing sound of plastic bouncing on the floor. Fingers crossed.</div>
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Here's a <a href="https://www.mythirtyone.com/1867915/shop/Catalog/ItemDetail/8495" target="_blank">link</a> if you'd like one for yourself. Here's the <a href="https://www.mythirtyone.com/1867915/shop/join" target="_blank">link</a> if you want to check out the consultant kit.</div>
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Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02371895505357913147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3468395435223466121.post-36785763964672615302016-09-22T09:38:00.001-07:002016-09-22T15:45:31.621-07:00Day 6: Learning with a Total Flop<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQAcswMLc40wF0iM0vQWCG0HPnxlPRh2LlvUe1KgJ9MsPaw33JbASRozfxlzFnUg1HEJXsGq46P4EwELAEAbDwQL3Awa15BM0zgiMIjIoKV9kBxLfE9_HWnah97SpCCgR0I7HGVxPnul9S/s1600/q+toteschooling+graphic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQAcswMLc40wF0iM0vQWCG0HPnxlPRh2LlvUe1KgJ9MsPaw33JbASRozfxlzFnUg1HEJXsGq46P4EwELAEAbDwQL3Awa15BM0zgiMIjIoKV9kBxLfE9_HWnah97SpCCgR0I7HGVxPnul9S/s1600/q+toteschooling+graphic.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Quincey's Project Toteschooling Mission Statement</td></tr>
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When we started this project, I warned the girls that despite the fact that I had no doubts about the learning opportunities they'd have, I was concerned about selling the products to keep the project going.<br />
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You see, we are a maker family who make lot of great projects like these bags and we also value supporting small, local business. </div>
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I told them that my fb feed is often inundated with sales promos for "At Home Party" products that I have largely stopped responding to because they seem neverending and I'm trying to instill the "less is more" approach with my kids and material possessions. I have a fb friend who only reaches out to me with invitations to the numerous parties that she hosts and we've discussed if we think this is respectful or not.</div>
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For that reason, I was not comfortable with pushing the sales side of this project too much and it showed.... Our first online party was a total and complete flop. Not one person joined our fb group or ordered anything.</div>
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Well, the sales side of it may have been a flop but the learning side surely wasn't.</div>
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So today's Thirty-One ended up happening over breakfast because the discussion naturally got started as to why didn't people buy anything.</div>
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We covered how much we did or didn't promote the party and then quickly got to "perceived value." Did people see these products as being worth their pricetags?</div>
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So off to the laptop to do some investigating. We picked the $15 zipper pouch as our product to study - few materials, and a product we have made in the past ourselves made it a more simple cost analysis.</div>
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Using Amazon and online fabric retailers we discovered that we probably couldn't find the exact fabric (as it's laminated with a rubber like product on the inside of the Thirty-One bag) but found something comparable. Then there was the zipper, thread, binding tape (the seams inside the bag are covered so it's all completely smooth) and the graphic. </div>
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We had chosen the bag stenciled with the bicycle design. That meant we had to look up the cost of bicycle stencils, paint and stencil brushes. </div>
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But wait, fabric is sold by the yard and we only need two pieces that had finished measurements of 9" x 12." Meaningful use of area calculations coming up! We calculated the area of our needs vs. the area of the yard of fabric and determined we could get 9 per yard.</div>
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Then we divided our stencil products by 9 because their quantity could be used for the entire 9 bags vs. zippers that required 1 per bag.</div>
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Ultimately, the kids calculated that each zipper pouch would cost them $3.54 in materials for a plain pouch or $5.31 per bag for a stenciled pouch. </div>
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So how does that compare with the $15 the company is charging? Are we missing anything?</div>
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Instead of telling, I tried to lead the kids to discover we hadn't included the cost of labor - which in this case would be their time. This lead to a discussion of piecework and how our bag making differs from an industrial company's production line and more importantly, what is their time worth. I'm constantly trying to get them to understand allocation of time - that choosing to do one thing means choosing not to do another. </div>
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But there was still another piece. If we were going to get the prices per bag listed above, we had to be willing to put out the money for 9 bags total as the fabric was only offered by the yard. So in fact, we'd have to put out $35 or more to get the 9 bag price.</div>
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And finally, we talked about quality. Would our bag be made to the same level of quality as one made on a professional machine, by a person who has made 100's if not 1000's of them before? Would our little sewing machine be the same quality as their industrial machine? Why or why not? </div>
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After all that, the kids think the bag is a great deal for $15. What do you think?</div>
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In the end, it was a productive breakfast and they don't know it yet but when we get back to schoolwork I'm going to ask each one to prepare an opinion or why or why not this bag is a value and present it to the group. Of course, we'll video it too so we can play it back and learn about what makes a great presentation.</div>
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Wow - all from the discussion of one little zipper pouch and a flopped party. </div>
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I guess our project isn't a fail after all even if our first party was. </div>
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If you are interested in shopping the online Thirty-One catalog & supporting our project, here's a<a href="https://www.mythirtyone.com/1867915/shop/home?_ga=1.47047975.1666900208.1472485517" target="_blank"> link.</a></div>
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If you'd like to get the great $99 curriculum, I mean consultant kit and start a similar project, here's a <a href="https://www.mythirtyone.com/1867915/shop/join" target="_blank">link</a> for that.</div>
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Tomorrow will most likely be spent finishing up the presentations, filming and having them self-critique their performances. I'll ask if they will let me post one. Oh and we need to go back and finalize their personal vision and mission statements. I'm trying to think of a great art project or design project to record them on - still searching for ideas.</div>
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Have a great day!!</div>
Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02371895505357913147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3468395435223466121.post-43489288836468678742016-09-21T11:50:00.001-07:002016-09-21T11:50:05.935-07:00Instagramming Our AdventuresAre you on Instagram? I recently discovered my long lost personal account where I post photos of all our homeschooling, 4h, rabbit raising fun.<div><br></div><div>I love scrolling back through all the old photos & getting inspiration from everyone else.<br><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8g-ieZiyaaDvX6EGbFpOQ-_MwBy4li3BYITbyn4yJz9IOJRk_eKYT-gJ7RJAOO8fDrA8fzdj4XDJPZXiZviomTQQ_f_OSN2G-MLRrYfcVQn6X-BAhpNdIvF02xwuHqvajlmBFgyNvuxFq/s640/blogger-image--1680761969.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8g-ieZiyaaDvX6EGbFpOQ-_MwBy4li3BYITbyn4yJz9IOJRk_eKYT-gJ7RJAOO8fDrA8fzdj4XDJPZXiZviomTQQ_f_OSN2G-MLRrYfcVQn6X-BAhpNdIvF02xwuHqvajlmBFgyNvuxFq/s640/blogger-image--1680761969.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">My account is "Lledbeck" if you want to follow along. </div><br></div></div>Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02371895505357913147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3468395435223466121.post-17533958978283329082016-09-20T19:27:00.001-07:002016-09-20T19:37:22.980-07:00Sick day playing with free stuff<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbU2aAbwu-D9C6YYlzPemHjbx4I9_FOzvb6rrtli78LghLShq3Q5pL0jlz9L_euU8HWLg_iD3R-LnPRFXSHE06MxSTcbXFLJ88NtSeCYk2KRbhyphenhyphenBtzF9nA96KA2KMHanyWzcF4MK2vEL1g/s640/blogger-image-501257979.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbU2aAbwu-D9C6YYlzPemHjbx4I9_FOzvb6rrtli78LghLShq3Q5pL0jlz9L_euU8HWLg_iD3R-LnPRFXSHE06MxSTcbXFLJ88NtSeCYk2KRbhyphenhyphenBtzF9nA96KA2KMHanyWzcF4MK2vEL1g/s640/blogger-image-501257979.jpg"></a></div><br></div><br></div><div><br></div>When I ordered the consultant kit, I did it because there were a few pieces I wanted anyway and they totaled more than the $99 for the entire kit.<br>
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So, all of the 8 bags other than the Organizing Shoulder Bag and the All About the Benjamins Wallet, I consider free! </div>
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I've been having a lot of fun with my "free" stuff. And today, since I wasn't feeling well & thought I should get on my mitten knitting, I needed a project bag. </div>
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Enter my adorable, "free" zipper pouch with the super cute bicycle graphic. </div>
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I remembered a cheap grommet set I had bought at Joann's and being that the bag had been free, it was worth the risk of it failing.</div>
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Seriously, this took me 15 minutes - 10 of which were spent trying to figure out how to use the grommet maker because I lost the instructions. </div>
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Yarn goes inside and threads out the grommets.</div>
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I'll be making multi colored mittens and I love the idea of anything that helps with the balls of yarn getting tangled. </div>
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Isn't this so cute??</div>
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Seriously, I'm excited. Plus it's very generously sized so it will easily handle the project in process along with thrusts, notions, etc.</div>
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The girls all tried to grab it so I think I'll get some more for Christmas and put grommets in them too for my little knitters.</div>
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The bags are 9" high, 12.25" long and 2" deep with a quality zipper closure. Best part is they have a laminated interior - smooth & snagfree and also easy to wipe clean in case my chocolate stash melts 😉</div>
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The price is $15 and they come in cute patterns with the option to embroider. My girls are big into their initials embroidered on everything so I might have to spring for the extra $7.<br>
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These would be a great holiday gift too filled with a pattern and a beautiful skein of yarn. </div>
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Here's a <a href="https://www.mythirtyone.com/1867915/shop/Catalog/ItemDetail/3045?isSummary=False" target="_blank">link</a> if you want to support Project Toteschooling and get going with your own zipper pouch.<br>
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If you want your own great consultant kit here's a <a href="https://www.mythirtyone.com/1867915/shop/join" target="_blank">link</a> for that. You don't have to become a consultant. You can just take advantage of the great deal.<br>
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Tomorrow, the kids will finish up their personal vision statements and we'll get onto some more fun work on Project Toteschool.<br>
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Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02371895505357913147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3468395435223466121.post-5589599605529917792016-09-17T09:21:00.001-07:002016-09-17T09:24:00.898-07:00Day 5: Our Mission StatementThe unintended benefit of today's work came in researching existing non-profits to learn about mission statements. In doing so and learning about organizations providing help, they learned about many problems that they probably hadn't thought of before.<br />
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On one hand, I hesitate for the girls to hear about how people or animals suffer, on the other hand, maybe this is another layer of insulation against entitlement.<br />
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Each girl compiled a list of 9 npo's they felt were worthy of our support. Maybe this afternoon after soccer, we'll work on selecting the final 9. It's a great opportunity for a friendly debate furthering those communication skills.<br />
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Their npo selections, served:<br />
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Kids (including sports, education, homeless needs & health)- 10<br />
Sports - 1<br />
Animals - 6<br />
Good for All - 1<br />
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Looking up, finding and writing these down was 2 solid pages of writing all done without complaint. That might not sound like a lot but in our family, 1 of the girls will do anything to get out of writing and she did it without a word of complaint.<br />
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Next, the girls crafted the mission of Project Toteschooling and the following is what they came up with. I let them us the PicMonkey website to create these graphics:<br />
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I asked the girls if they wanted to write their own personal mission and vision statements and they liked that idea. So that's the plan for the next day.</div>
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In the meantime, THE BOX ARRIVED!!!!! </div>
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We unpacked it quickly and then packed it up again. I didn't want the girls to investigate it too closely because we'll spend a lesson talking about expectations created with the print and video promotions vs. the actual product. (Here's a hint- honestly, the quality far exceeded my expectations. It will be interesting to see if the details I noticed are mentioned in the advertising or not.)</div>
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If you want to support our project by shopping our online launch party, <a href="https://www.mythirtyone.com/1867915/shop/Catalog/BrowseCatalog" target="_blank">click here</a>. We're making it a Mystery Hostess Party which means anyone could win the hostess benefits. </div>
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For every $10 you spend, you get one ticket. We'll pick tickets at the end of the party (Wed, 9/21). One person will win the free merchandise credit already at $25! That's $25 worth of free stuff. The other prize is the 1/2 price item. </div>
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If you think you'd like to do a similar learning project with your kids, here's a link to the <a href="https://www.mythirtyone.com/1867915/shop/join" target="_blank">consultant kit.</a></div>
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Let me know what you think of the project. It's really working out better than I imagined. And don't forget to join our <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/664932103663132/" target="_blank">FB group</a> where you will also find updates. No purchase is required to be of that group.</div>
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Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02371895505357913147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3468395435223466121.post-26432750109195028932016-09-16T06:48:00.005-07:002016-09-17T08:48:51.070-07:00Day 4: Defining a Mission<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.mythirtyone.com/1867915/shop/home?_ga=1.42371621.1666900208.1472485517" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAC2iajdzRQ2sONwEcnu5c2tYIyFnjnS_SmmmkCGbWT_hYEkVtjQ1raY6ZFdLRo6otjS3SG7VD5E6onFUgjpno2ug_WMqG9OnPSChrEw6E9jr17oUTUQXd2l6BS4FMHyYfBJImvFyO4834/s320/curious+values+graphic.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b>"Project Toteschooling"</b> is quickly becoming the kids' favorite thing we do. Talk about motivating! Chores done quickly and without fussing is a miracle in our house and it's happening.<br />
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Tennis team has started so our lesson about missions got cut short. But they begged to start at 8pm last night and so we did.<br />
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We talked about mission and vision statements by talking about some familiar, area non-profits. Then we looked up their websites to find what they actually were.<br />
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In our project, we will be donating each of the 9 months between now and June. So, I asked them to research any non-profits they wanted local, state, national or international, and write down the 9 most effective mission statements.<br />
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They quickly got on it. I can't wait to see which issues and NPO's they deem as worthy of their 9. Maybe it will give me a bit more insight into their tween/teen minds.<br />
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Last night, I found some great lessons on Pinterest about creating mission and vision statements for yourself. It could be really fun to have the kids work on writing those. I think that will be the next step after writing our missions.<br />
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Here are a couple of those links. They are both infographics so I think they'll work great with kids:<br />
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* <a href="http://www.elearners.com/education-resources/online-learning/step-11-write-a-personal-mission-statement-0/" target="_blank">How to write a personal mission statement</a><br />
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* <a href="http://www.jeffcalloway.com/crafting-personal-vision-statement.html" target="_blank">How to write a personal vision statement</a><br />
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Can't wait to get the day started. Because it's Friday, I'm thinking of letting them start with it first this morning. The box still hasn't arrived - hopefully today but we've been having issues with our shipper lately. Fingers crossed.<br />
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We've started an online party - there's a great sale going on and your items can be shipped to you anywhere. If you want to help us with this project, here's a <a href="https://www.mythirtyone.com/1867915/shop/Catalog/BrowseCatalog" target="_blank">link</a>.<br />
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Here's the <a href="https://www.mythirtyone.com/1867915/shop/join" target="_blank">link for the consultant kit</a> if you want join us. It's $99.Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02371895505357913147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3468395435223466121.post-41433454477371894172016-09-14T06:46:00.000-07:002016-09-17T08:48:32.445-07:00Day 3: Project ToteschoolingLet's just say the first day was a success that exceeded my expectations and came on the perfect day!!<br />
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Yesterday was just tough. I don't know why. It started out great. I successfully dragged myself out of bed, got organized before the kids were up, made coffee for Lled and went for a walk. I should have known that the dog pooper scooper fiasco was an omen. I can't even tell you about it. Just know, I get an A for effort.<br />
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So, yesterday afternoon, we needed to hit the restart button. The "we'll only do this if we finish our work" rule was broken - Day 1.<br />
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But here's what happened. Everyone grabbed some scratch paper and sat on the couch. I connected the computer to the tv and showed the kids on a big screen a quick tour of what Thirty-One was, it's mission and what it sells.<br />
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<b>They liked these 2 videos:</b><br />
1. <a href="http://www.thirtyonegifts.com/our-story-video/" target="_blank">About their mission of empowering women </a><br />
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2. <a href="http://www.thirtyonegifts.com/gives/cindy-video/" target="_blank">About their charitable giving program</a><br />
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Those videos sparked so much discussion and enthusiasm that I could never have predicted. I kept hearing one of the girls saying at different times, "This is AMAZING!", "This is the BEST thing we've done."<br />
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We ended up in a discussion about their emotional reaction to the videos - how did they feel after watching them? (excited, motivated); Did they think that was by accident? How much effort would it take to put all that information with such a compelling delivery in 3 short minutes.<br />
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<b><i>Future project inspiration </i></b>- Each girl will be given one cause to create a 3 minute video with graphics, etc to motivate viewers to action. Maybe the older girls could tie this in with an issue being talked about in the election? And Lilly could make it about something she loves like adopting dogs from the animal shelter.<br />
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Looking at the consultant kit on the big screen got squeals of excitement as they "called" who was going to get which bag. Silly girls.<br />
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<b>Next, Commissions</b>.<br />
Love this. Math, math and more math and they were racing to get their computations done so they could see how much we could earn!<br />
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First, we started with what commission were, other jobs that use them, etc. They said they now understand the incessant local car dealership ads on the radio. We talked about communication - does the high pressure car sales guy make you want to stay and talk or leave? If you don't like that, which communication style would work better?<br />
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Second, I used the $500 average per party sales total and the commission rate given to me by our upline leader to get the girls calculating.<br />
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We started with the number of parties they thought we could have between October and June. They debated their positions a bit and then both set them (I fear woefully high) but I kept repeating in my mind, it's their project, it's their project. Then divided it to find how many that would be in a month.<br />
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<b>Harper's goal - 23 parties total - about 2-3 each month.</b><br />
<b>Quincey's goal - 36 parties total - 4 parties each month </b><br />
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Oh wow! This project may become a lesson in dealing with disappointment but I won't tell them that. Sure, 4 parties a month! Let's do it!<br />
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The absolute best part of the day was when they then did the math of ...<br />
Total # of parties x commissions = Total Earned /2 = How much they will donate & How much will go to a family "something."<br />
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<b>Harper has us donating $1437.50 and Quincey has us donating $2250.00</b><br />
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This session was going long and so we didn't get too detailed in what those donations could mean but they were thrilled, I mean screaming at the idea of donating so much money and the impact it could have thrilled. I think kids sometimes feel so "little." My girls do all have very charitable hearts, they even decided to name our homeschool St. Teresa's Academy after Mother Teresa. So this will be motivating.<br />
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<b><i>Programming Project Idea</i></b> - I thought I'd see if they could figure out a little widget or program an app that would track our earnings and donations. Their dad could help. That would be a good way to get him in on the fun - I can't see him promoting bags. ha ha!<br />
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We ended up having lunch out and talking about naming our project. There were lots of suggestions: Totes of Fun, Smithgirls' Totes and then Harper came out with the keeper, ToteSchooling! I love it! Cheesy, fun and perfect!<br />
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So, <b>Project ToteSchooling has officially begun!</b> Maybe the consultant kit will arrive today!<br />
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<b>Day 2's Goals will be to:</b><br />
<b>* Write a Mission Statement for our project</b>. Thirty-One encourages women to share their "Why" for being a consultant. I think we need ours written down so the girls don't get too excited and off track. Focus is on learning communications, writing, computer skills, math, charitable giving, value of a dollar, etc. I may need to write that in bold. :)<br />
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<b>* Create a Customer Group on FB.</b> They'll have to write the little blurb description. It's called ToteSchooling. We won't add anyone unless we ask or they do. If you want to be in to see what happens, message me on FB. You don't have to buy anything to be in the group.<br />
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<b>* Create a graphic for ToteSchooling</b><br />
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<b>* Set-up our Online Launch Party!!</b><br />
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Ok. So far so good!<br />
Remember, if you want to join us on this adventure, here's the <a href="https://www.mythirtyone.com/1867915/shop/join" target="_blank">link</a>.<br />
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Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02371895505357913147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3468395435223466121.post-36577783961178606192016-09-13T08:14:00.001-07:002016-09-17T08:47:58.111-07:00Day 2: When Will the Box Arrive???I <span style="font-family: "helvetica neue light" , , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">told the girls yesterday about the idea of using Thirty-One as part of our language arts, writing, math and public speaking curriculum.</span>
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They were THRILLED!</div>
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And now they're eagerly awaiting the arrival of the consultant kit. Here's what should be arriving in the next couple of days.</div>
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<b><u>Day #2</u></b></div>
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<b><u>Today's Plan:</u></b></div>
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<li><i>What is Thirty-One? How do Commissions Work? etc.</i></li>
<li><i>How to Set a Realistic Goal & Determine Our Goals?</i></li>
<li><i>What Should We Call This Fun Project?</i></li>
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While we wait for the goods, we're going to start today with reviewing what the company is, what it sells and how it sells it. I won't show them too much of the promotional material they just need a general idea of what this is all about. I want to preserve their current understanding of what those promotional items should look like and say so we can have a great compare/contrast later with our writing projects.</div>
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We'll talk about the different goals consultants have: fun, extra spending money, full-time income and how that correlates to amount of effort/time put in. </div>
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And then, they'll set their collective goal. </div>
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Remember, my plan is that whatever money we make (by the grace of God) we'll divide 50/50 between monthly charitable donations and a family "something" - I can't wait to see what the kids pick.</div>
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When talking about goals, we'll be doing lots of math backwards and forewards. In other words, we'll start with "If we sell $200, how much commission would we make?" and "If we want to raise $100 per month for a charity, how much would we have to sell?" </div>
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Did you read that? They're going to be doing real life math problems over and over again, most likely without complaining! I'm hoping this project might reframe math for them into a fun, powerful tool... it's reaching but I'm an optimist.</div>
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We'll see where the conversation leads but I might even have them look into some of the non-profits they are hoping to support and see what different sums of money can buy, ie. $5 to feed a family one meal.</div>
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By the way, did I mention that I have told the girls that we will work on this project every day that they complete all their work and chores without a struggle? Oh my word! Can you imagine? Could I have just squelched tween complaining? From this blog to God's ears.</div>
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Ok, I'm soooo excited. Are you? </div>
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Remember, if you want to join us, here's the link to sign up. <a href="https://www.mythirtyone.com/1867915/shop/join">https://www.mythirtyone.com/1867915/shop/join</a></div>
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Tune in tomorrow to see what happened & our next steps.</div>
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Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02371895505357913147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3468395435223466121.post-50931645297210463142016-09-12T06:49:00.000-07:002016-09-17T08:47:11.884-07:00Day 1: Thirty-One as Curriculum<div>
Day 1 - The Plan</div>
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I bet you didn't expect that, did you?</div>
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You read it right. </div>
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Yesterday, I talked about slowing our family schedule down and being more selective about the activities to which we allocate our time.</div>
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Today, I'm focusing on using the advantages we have as homeschoolers for real-life learning. We have the time. They love project based learning. They love experiments. So, wouldn't promoting and selling a real product be a combination of the two?</div>
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I think so and so we'll give it a try.</div>
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<u>My out of pocket expense is $99 for the Consultant Kit.</u> Let's face it, I've spend that on just one subject for one child in curriculum. And essentially, that's how I'm looking at that fee.. as curriculum.</div>
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<b>For $99, we're getting access to a company built completely on communication</b>. That's what the consultants do - whether it be face to face at a party, or written in an online approach. AND, it's the company's best interest to support their consultants with marketing materials - so for $99 we'll have access to professionally designed and written marketing materials.</div>
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Starts to make sense, doesn't it?</div>
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Of course, this won't be child labor - no I am not making the kids do parties or necessarily have any direct contact with customers.</div>
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But what I might do is say, here is your product line - a line of thermal products for carrying food. Ok, </div>
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What features would you want to highlight? </div>
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Who would be the market for this product? </div>
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How and where would they use it? </div>
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So how can we achieve that in a promotional email? a short video presentation? </div>
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What adjectives would you use to describe it?</div>
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Then maybe, they'll <b>design a flyer</b> (writing, computer & graphics skills being used) and then we'll compare it to the one Thirty One designed. Which is more effective? Why?</div>
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We'll <b>write short demonstration scripts and actually video a demo video</b> explaining and promoting the product (writing, public speaking skills used) and then compare and contrast to the professional ones. </div>
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<b>Exciting, engaging, motivating writing projects are endless! </b></div>
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Then there's <b>graphic design and computer skills in creating product flyers.</b></div>
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<b>And how about math</b>! Oh my goodness the opportunities are endless. </div>
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Just off the top of my head, there's:</div>
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* Figuring out your commission (percentages)</div>
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* Reverse Engineering a fundraising goal - if local group X wants to raise $500, how much product would they need to sell as a group? per each group member?</div>
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* Even my 2nd grader could use the order form to practice simple adding and subtracting with </div>
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carrying by filling it in with an order (more writing!) and then adding it all up.</div>
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* How about learning about accounts payable and receivable. We can track our business and use this as an experiment. Ok, 9/2016 we invest $99. We'll track all of our individual expenses with </div>
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business materials, shipping materials and postage, cost of fun marketing promotions, etc. Then, add in the commissions we earn and see where we are at in June, 2017. (Excel Spreadsheets & </div>
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Accounting)</div>
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Also,<b> Marketing</b>. Who is the customer for this and how will you effectively sell to them.</div>
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Then there's <b>learning about the value of a dollar. </b>I have to say, I think it's inevitable that entitlement rears its ugly head in every child's development at one point or another. I recently had my 13 year old tell me in disgust, "You're not even loaning me $100, it's only $80." Ah, excuse me. </div>
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So, what if we are modestly successful and actually have someone buy something and make some money. I'll have the kids set a goal to use with the money earned in our 9 months. All the intrinsic learning about realistic expectations; breaking a large goal into monthly goals along the way, etc. </div>
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I'm also hoping that they might understand the value of work. Perhaps at the end, the goal they pick in September won't seem worthy of the effort they put in. </div>
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And finally, my favorite part, <b>50% of any commissions earned will be donated to a local non-profit!</b> </div>
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Charity, community service, I love it! </div>
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My expectation is that they will choose a different non-profit for each month. I know the local humane society will top that list but my hope is that over the course of 9 months, they'll need to research other non-profits in the area to find other worthy recipients. Learning about their community's needs, who is out there helping and how they, as kids, can have a positive impact on all of that will be a tremendous achievement.</div>
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I'm not completely sure what will happen except for a tremendous amount of meaningful, engaging learning that I hope will be received enthusiastically by the girls.</div>
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Am I completely insane? Maybe. But this just might be the ticket to not only get my reluctant writer and shy speaker, communicating well and confidently, all with some laughter and fun. Really, how could this fail?</div>
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My plan is to post our projects here to both chronicle our work and maybe guide/inspire other homeschooling families. We'll have a Pinterest board up soon with links. And, I hope that we also have a blog/vlog that will be the live product of their work - to promote the products in writing and video posts. I'll insert those links soon. </div>
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<b>Anyone want to join us?</b> If you do, the Consultant Kit is $99 and let's face it - you do get over $300 worth of bags that really are pretty terrific. And like I said earlier, consider it curriculum. You can quit at any time and they require $200 over a 3 month period to stay active. I'm hoping some kind souls (or maybe Grandma) will help us get there.</div>
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<b>If you do want to join us, we sure would appreciate it if you used this link to sign up. </b>We get credit for that and even a penny or two from your sales - more percentage computing!!</div>
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<b>Here's the <a href="https://www.mythirtyone.com/1867915/shop/join" target="_blank">link</a>.</b><br />
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Thanks everyone and remember to check back. You may find something inspirational or a great laugh at my expense. It's ok. It'll be fun, that I can promise.</div>
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Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02371895505357913147noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3468395435223466121.post-36901748084336129792016-09-11T09:11:00.001-07:002016-09-14T06:51:48.749-07:00Slowing Down & Remembering<br>
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We didn't come to homeschooling by choice. It'd be better described as desperation. Our schools didn't meet our daughter's needs to the point that she was miserable, miserable, miserable! I mean crying every day before school, coming home and melting down after school.. every day. </div>
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So we pulled her out not knowing what was ahead. Five years later, we now homeschool all three girls and we now know that it was the best decision we could have made.</div>
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But then life gets busy and I was so busy keeping up with all the girls' activities, unexpected illnesses, moving, you know all the messy stuff of life that this past summer I realized we had ever so slowly, so we didn't even notice, drifted completely away from what we loved most about homeschooling.... the freedom to learn in the best way for each girl.</div>
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When August rolled around, I was dreading back to school and that isn't like me. I LOVE school with the girls. But I realized the pace of all the other activities was prohibiting us from project based learning and kind of forcing us to textbooks. If the kids were just going to "get work done" they should just go to school. We like deep learning, learning to mastery and taking the time to make that happen however we have to.</div>
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I feel like I've said this before but we've made hard choices to cut down on activities and not take advantage of every great opportunity available to us. The biggest, most difficult of these choices was deciding to pull Quincey out of club soccer. She LOVES soccer and she's good. Playing on an elite team but travelling for 2 weekends a month in the fall and spring and up to 4 practices a week was taking a huge toll on our family. I think the problem is that families these days are soooo collectively overbooked that it becomes an accepted aspect of raising kids. Um, no. We're going to be the weird family and step out of that pace of life.</div>
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So, even though the thoughts racing through my mind are that taking her off the team now ( in 6th grade) will jeopardize her chances of getting back on the team or making the high school teams, which are largely filled with club soccer kids, and that I will be causing her to miss opportunities in an activity she loves, I have to choose family first. I mean, if I'm going to walk the talk that family is everything, than I need to eliminate activities that jeopardize that. Quincey's a great soccer player and maybe she could play through college, but she's 11. She also might decide that she hates it next year and then what have we sacrificed family time for?</div>
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As someone who lost both parents by the age of 35, I'm banking on the fact that time spent having fun and playing as a family is far more valuable to her in the long run than participation on any team. And if she loses a college scholarship in the distant future that she probably had a 5% chance of getting anyway, I'm ok with that. That's what the college fund is for.</div>
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So, tomorrow starts our first full week of homeshooling with Harper in 8th, Quincey in 6th and Lilly in 2nd. </div>
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Stick around. I have a lot of out-of-the-box ideas to make use of our "extra" time. I'm sure some ideas will flop but there's gotta be a couple of amazing, unexpected experiences in there. </div>
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And tomorrow I'm revealing a big surprise for the girls for a VERY unconventional idea that will give them creative writing, informational writing, math, computer and vocabulary skills and practice while reinforcing the value of a dollar and encouraging community service!!!</div>
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This idea is so good I'm hoping others will want to follow our lead so we can support and encourage each other along the way.</div>
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Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02371895505357913147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3468395435223466121.post-14421915463802832812016-04-27T07:51:00.001-07:002016-04-27T07:51:19.150-07:00A Sad Good-Bye<div>Today we said goodbye to our dear priest, Father Julian, who is retiring to his homeland, Malta.</div><div><br></div><div>I stopped practicing Catholicism after college. It just happened. Then after kids, I knew I should return but I had married an agnostic in a non-Catholic ceremony and the hurdles to become active and in good standing just seemed too much. </div><div><br></div><div>After trying to return unsuccessfully with two parishes in the valley, who couldn't figure out how I could come back to the church while not making my husband participate. I arrived in Father Julian's office for our first meeting ready to stand my ground. I had my arguments lined up. </div><div><br></div><div>Instead, I was greeted with kindness and compassion and the promise not to worry about it; we'd figure it out. Which we did. I was able to return to church and my husband didn't have to have a single conversation about religion. Lled & Father talked often, just about apps & iPads. Instead of a very public convalidation ceremony in the middle of Sunday mass, he performed a private one in an auxiliary chapel. He helped my girls and me understand and grow in our faith with kindness; always with incredible kindness.</div><div><br></div><div>Father Julian had a melanoma removed shortly before his retirement announcement and I pray the 2 aren't connected. </div><div><br></div><div>In my life, I never thought I would miss a particular priest, but I can tell you, this man will be sorely missed by our entire community. I am so thankful he was part of our life. </div><div><br></div><div>I pray God grants him happiness & peace .</div><div><br></div><div>Here's a photo of him & Quincey, who was portraying one of the apostles for the foot washing ceremony on Holy Thursday.</div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCB_ADLfa2QDgNJcVjS8EjteglEXkKO8VhJF08RoGbutQo_KLC77fs88gSI-eBA_HTGVVR8Q05oTPmYGFLpqp0F9pN1pZq3yHoyrFaCZIw2eB7lVj-OoMqCXNKFi1q1ReqZtiQ3YD6A7Om/s640/blogger-image--725640088.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCB_ADLfa2QDgNJcVjS8EjteglEXkKO8VhJF08RoGbutQo_KLC77fs88gSI-eBA_HTGVVR8Q05oTPmYGFLpqp0F9pN1pZq3yHoyrFaCZIw2eB7lVj-OoMqCXNKFi1q1ReqZtiQ3YD6A7Om/s640/blogger-image--725640088.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div><br></div>Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02371895505357913147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3468395435223466121.post-12677159983044860002016-04-27T07:48:00.001-07:002016-04-27T07:48:52.675-07:00First Rabbit ShowDespite the fact that the girls studied rabbits in 4h last year, we didn't make it to any shows. There aren't many where we are and breaking my foot meant we missed them all.<div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKxzzfWwuvyb6zP9dBfafymyP9OtD5XT2dNO8ioF2N-IsD900tDtmPTfYYmn41Cj9vloBTuFAFDuKcxFxEaQiBQpi421hLR__TyimZRCWQW_UWzBiO6ohH_78Fjq8VdwzQxFk8GNrKgBHn/s640/blogger-image-457049575.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKxzzfWwuvyb6zP9dBfafymyP9OtD5XT2dNO8ioF2N-IsD900tDtmPTfYYmn41Cj9vloBTuFAFDuKcxFxEaQiBQpi421hLR__TyimZRCWQW_UWzBiO6ohH_78Fjq8VdwzQxFk8GNrKgBHn/s640/blogger-image-457049575.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div><br></div><div>We're in the process of getting our new group together but I saw an ad for a 4h rabbit show within an hour's drive and thought we'd try. </div><div><br></div><div>The girls have so much going on that their interest in the rabbits has been waning. I thought this show might push them in one direction or the other; give it up or pursue it more excitedly.</div><div><br></div><div>I am so proud of how they did today! We went having watched s lot of shows but never participating. The real issue was we didn't know how to flip the rabbits which is required when showing.</div><div><br></div><div>Soon after we got there, I asked a couple of older 4hers to show my girls. They were happy to do so and within 15 minutes, my girls had it figured out.</div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKnmOXjXPpYDB0b7G7q72ft3EWXWrsbxthJ635LhgBgzoWE7eL6uRwr0vjZvYjnb0Dfc9F6IZ6a_UcfMOrgd1DYsy2o9svCzT5kuHiW2YuDK0dvzxmK8PEx00RjdhrnqcnjP4KnogybeB2/s640/blogger-image--845817030.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKnmOXjXPpYDB0b7G7q72ft3EWXWrsbxthJ635LhgBgzoWE7eL6uRwr0vjZvYjnb0Dfc9F6IZ6a_UcfMOrgd1DYsy2o9svCzT5kuHiW2YuDK0dvzxmK8PEx00RjdhrnqcnjP4KnogybeB2/s640/blogger-image--845817030.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div><br></div><div>Harper was up first. I signed her up for the regular intermediate class rather than novice. She wanted to try it out and she did great. As you can imagine she was nervous and missed a few simple questions because if it but loved it.</div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8RZ80_x0OdgctICBC_9xZHdI70P1MyX1LHXrSXiSQD9Zu4wWgL4vqFbLNeI7qI7CMrrvxKEHOxuIeZXSMNmqNRDOnZ19qv7bHJppzWehGxauDa_71mCpbthym4E7vAsMCtAxUjtVyuMuK/s640/blogger-image-1548227042.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8RZ80_x0OdgctICBC_9xZHdI70P1MyX1LHXrSXiSQD9Zu4wWgL4vqFbLNeI7qI7CMrrvxKEHOxuIeZXSMNmqNRDOnZ19qv7bHJppzWehGxauDa_71mCpbthym4E7vAsMCtAxUjtVyuMuK/s640/blogger-image-1548227042.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div><br></div><div>What happened to that shy girl I used to have?</div><div><br></div><div>Lilly did the Cloverbud group and it was adorable. She beamed the whole time.</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisMmle_pQcerTxRalU3WUcQJfLTgVNF0qC2_mQbZnx7BRqLQqc3vwrD2IGRrqidfaLyJUqzsnxdFfIia-tzP7azZ7ze_TRFbo_elwbuzzWQLgAm9CBY_aKgRoFQ3ad74f3g7P-Pmdbbu9Y/s640/blogger-image--1253678010.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisMmle_pQcerTxRalU3WUcQJfLTgVNF0qC2_mQbZnx7BRqLQqc3vwrD2IGRrqidfaLyJUqzsnxdFfIia-tzP7azZ7ze_TRFbo_elwbuzzWQLgAm9CBY_aKgRoFQ3ad74f3g7P-Pmdbbu9Y/s640/blogger-image--1253678010.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCCzt0VctgKw3nPfw6otV5y_TDQN9OVUiKngUFX0utjjKfifCYzyoDjnsC1Z8pSzJ8XYKTCzohKaGLONV6vtXxz3ClwIF6lCtI963dTkJV9cMWrs3_MyeJrUl0EM7BfXVsEm3c3fyPOI1U/s640/blogger-image--1094469030.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCCzt0VctgKw3nPfw6otV5y_TDQN9OVUiKngUFX0utjjKfifCYzyoDjnsC1Z8pSzJ8XYKTCzohKaGLONV6vtXxz3ClwIF6lCtI963dTkJV9cMWrs3_MyeJrUl0EM7BfXVsEm3c3fyPOI1U/s640/blogger-image--1094469030.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div><br></div><div>Quincey was supposed to be away at a soccer game so I hadn't registered her. I think being there and able to watch the first time was probably great for her. </div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq0L_afSEmSc5-4w3kJT6E7saQooBnYFVMjM_tX1E1E3KBXsC5MW3MVqPZYpyYSX5sUTq6DvB8y57PaNtdxiju4HMYNqWAY-Cv-4nXl8URGJ_y8WPaah0WUM1fuHU5UuxQYWolHR2XQnNv/s640/blogger-image--1032892881.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq0L_afSEmSc5-4w3kJT6E7saQooBnYFVMjM_tX1E1E3KBXsC5MW3MVqPZYpyYSX5sUTq6DvB8y57PaNtdxiju4HMYNqWAY-Cv-4nXl8URGJ_y8WPaah0WUM1fuHU5UuxQYWolHR2XQnNv/s640/blogger-image--1032892881.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div><br></div><div>They can't wait to do it again! I'm so proud of them, well really Harper, for stepping into a situation acknowledging that she didn't have all the skills but ready to try it to learn anyway.</div><div><br></div><div>Happy, long day.</div>Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02371895505357913147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3468395435223466121.post-78488895599033969082015-10-16T04:07:00.001-07:002015-10-16T04:15:16.489-07:00Having FaithMy childhood was pretty idyllic. I was raised in a gorgeous, small farming community by the ocean in Rhode Island back in the day when riding your bike alone miles to the one general store in town wasn't an act of "free range parenting" but just the way of life.<div><br></div><div>When my father died two months before I was to graduate high school, it seems it could have been an opportunity to sink into and draw strength from my faith or to cast it aside. My shallow catholic faith didn't really stand a chance. I still believed, but I was pretty angry with God. I guess it's the difference between being a once a week church attending catholic and having a relationship with God.</div><div><br></div><div>Fast forward five years, I met my husband to be - a wonderful, agnostic man. Six years later we were married of course not in the church. Not once did I go to church in that time. Our every free minute was spent outdoors in Oregon's truly wonder-full forests, beaches and mountains. That was our "church" and I couldn't believe others believed you needed to sit in a man-made building to commune with God.</div><div><br></div><div>Fast forward through sixteen more years of a beautiful life mixed with 2 terrible miscarriages, 3 amazing children, the death of my mom, grandparents, brother-in-law, a major health scare and I find myself craving daily mass. Yup, I said it... Daily Mass.</div><div><br></div><div>Yesterday, was a rough day. I've had some health symptoms rearing up, feeling stretched thin with time, commitments, finances, motherhood... You name it. It's just a stressful time for us. Truly, everything was just swirling in my mind like a tornado. </div><div><br></div><div>We'd accomplished little in schoolwork during the morning and suddenly it was 11:45am. I had wanted to get to church but thought how could we with the little we'd accomplished.</div><div><br></div><div>But I made the decision to rally the troops. We got there a little late. </div><div><br></div><div>I can't explain it well but I just prayed that God would fill me with his love and help me experience my day with his eyes, words and heart. In the course of 30 minutes, the tornado stopped spinning, the stress melted away and we all left feeling put back together.</div><div><br></div><div>During the course of the day, answers started showing up to most of the issues in that tornado with perfect timing and seemingly all by happenstance.</div><div><br></div><div>Another lesson that worrying doesn't change anything but trusting in my faith and myself changes everything.</div><div><br></div><div>Judging from the contentment in my kids after church, I'm praying that they are growing with that sink-into-it kind of solid faith in God.</div><div><br></div><div>And yes, I do still think the outdoors is one of the most intimate, sacred places to experience God but I now know that there's something to be said for sitting among as part of a community in one of those man-made buildings.</div><div><br></div><div><br></div>Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02371895505357913147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3468395435223466121.post-34763119041409875422015-10-06T05:45:00.003-07:002015-10-06T05:45:18.617-07:00Tough Lessons for Little Ones<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We've had chickens off and on through the years. Our old house was on the creek and had a healthy population of racoons, skunks and all other critters. I say healthy because they were eating a steady supply of organic chicken.... our organic chickens!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Every time we get the chicks, the girls name them, hand raise them to be pet-like and fall in love with each one. And every time, eventually, they get taken one by one.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Last year we gave away our final survivors. We just couldn't handle how upset the kids would get and despite dogs, fences, wire, and more fences and wire, they just kept getting taken.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">For some reason, we decided to try again this year. We bought 7 chicks about a month ago. All was fine until 2 nights ago.</span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 19.32px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">My husband spent $$$ and 2 precious weekends making the perfect, impenetrable chicken coop. Everything was great for 4 weeks.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Then something really small squeezed through one of the chicken wire hexagons into Lled's fort knox coop and took Quin's "Copper" and Gracie's "Pippi" the night before last. Copper is outside of the coop in 3 pieces. I'm giving myself bonus points for clean-up including the beheaded head! Blech!</span></div>
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Quin's other chick "Freckles" was found wandering in the driveway 200 yds away from the coop. Quin is in tears so off we go to Wilco in the hopes they still have chicks. They do! We get 3. Bring them home. Get them cozy in their little chick digs in the garage. Run to get Harper and come home to find one,Lilly's "PomPom," has somehow wedged herself behind the water dispenser. We get her out and she is exhausted and so Lilly puts her on the warm concrete driveway to warm up and stays with her talking to her and singing her songs. Pompom rouses later but something's wrong. Broken foot? I don't know. She's not walking very well and doesn't seem able to tip forward as in to peck at the ground. Any other person would have just put this bird out of it's misery. But not us! The girls smother her with love until bedtime during which time Lilly says,"We are not culling her. Although, it would be easy."</div>
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I woke up at 2am and thought I'd check only to find the other chicks using PomPom as a sleeping mat with her beak buried in the shavings. She was in rough shape. The box of craft supplies was nearby and I remembered there was a plastic water dropper in it. Yes, I even tried giving her some water with a water dropper (mostly so I could tell Lilly I went to extraordinary measures to save her).</div>
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Sorry to say, PomPom Smith went to be with all the other flocks of Smith chickens in Chicken Heaven at 4:02am. A brief burial ceremony took place at the trashcan in the driveway attended by me.</div>
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Does this complete my mothering responsibilities for the day? Oh, if there was only a written job description for motherhood.</div>
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If you're a praying person, you might consider adding Cloud, Hawk, Freckles, Sunshine Puff, Leopard and Bronze Smith to your prayers. I'm quite sure they need them.</div>
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Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02371895505357913147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3468395435223466121.post-58080136022903039722015-10-01T17:05:00.001-07:002015-10-01T17:05:27.641-07:00Welcome October<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf6JWKTG24X-KWc1QY0zNXclxpQbsG7kxiMIXMyARwaUSMv90StKICTsVYCu5UoHjctV8oO2BT10dvEdfAODBdTxoK8SGuG_WXmCtDTQUCl3QI6d6AKsVPymO6tcAP3PnTZBQchmD3T8yO/s640/blogger-image-498426518.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf6JWKTG24X-KWc1QY0zNXclxpQbsG7kxiMIXMyARwaUSMv90StKICTsVYCu5UoHjctV8oO2BT10dvEdfAODBdTxoK8SGuG_WXmCtDTQUCl3QI6d6AKsVPymO6tcAP3PnTZBQchmD3T8yO/s640/blogger-image-498426518.jpg"></a></div><br></div><br></div><div><br></div>September was what Septemver always is in our homeschooling house- a gradual molding of the "ideal" plan I create at the start of the year into what we can manage.<div><br></div><div>This year is so different already. With the addition of a first grader who wants to do more, more, more and a seventh grader who really is working at high school level, I'm busy. </div><div><br></div><div>Throw in the traveling soccer team which has me away 2 weekends a month and we definitely needed to mold that "perfect" plan </div><div><br></div><div>But I love where we are at. There are a few more things I'd love to get into our days like a regular, weekly volunteering gig possibly to benefit the homeless; an advanced writing course to feed my okdest's old soul and some sort of hands on engineering to charge up my 5th grader.</div><div><br></div><div>We start every day with the best of intentions to get through a million subjects but rarely do we succeed. Wake up times are inching later with the morning darkness & chill and I'm ok with that because it means my morning quiet time, my most cherished time of the day, gets a minute or two longer.</div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsDQM-HZ287hoYL-CcHbwGId8bU7f_8EjYS0Hpk3u5L1sFRu-Vg9c5HIphEEbhvXb0xh7p7XZhdPCuuQukagF91qQLowCRCE1kOkBUT8eOguNc_k0gBwIju4s4bQP_Woca31juc7osBJVa/s640/blogger-image-398972930.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsDQM-HZ287hoYL-CcHbwGId8bU7f_8EjYS0Hpk3u5L1sFRu-Vg9c5HIphEEbhvXb0xh7p7XZhdPCuuQukagF91qQLowCRCE1kOkBUT8eOguNc_k0gBwIju4s4bQP_Woca31juc7osBJVa/s640/blogger-image-398972930.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div><br></div><div>I love being with my girls and watching them blossom. The changes come rapidly these days. </div><div><br></div><div>We've been really good about getting to daily mass twice a week which means a lot to me. Our priest could be a kindred spirit to Pope Francis- all kindness and peace. I think hearing his words more regularly will ease my soul when things get hectic.</div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJJw33acEwZEbDTnuUjtKZ5yrqw4Q0MCgUDoMiO6Ltfoyeo1NJoAa1CbjaDAfxHFIrFATfZRGWwh0FW6Npp-oYNaEJO2mOR0F4F8X2GVw2ggJZFKJicKPHwEOxfwdcSzZoElDSw-Wfy9nW/s640/blogger-image--154152692.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJJw33acEwZEbDTnuUjtKZ5yrqw4Q0MCgUDoMiO6Ltfoyeo1NJoAa1CbjaDAfxHFIrFATfZRGWwh0FW6Npp-oYNaEJO2mOR0F4F8X2GVw2ggJZFKJicKPHwEOxfwdcSzZoElDSw-Wfy9nW/s640/blogger-image--154152692.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div><br></div><div>The kids were gathering sunflower seeds today and our dog, Olive, sat closely by ever so quietly slipping her long into the table... Just in case someone wanted to throw it. Love that sweet soul, Olive.</div>Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02371895505357913147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3468395435223466121.post-61785343821551133052015-09-18T07:01:00.000-07:002015-10-01T16:49:40.444-07:00My PathDifferent.<br>
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My daughter is on a travelling soccer team. The coach is one of the dad's who played soccer years ago while attending college to be an attorney. The team is largely comprised of his co-worker/friends' kids. So last weekend I looked around and realized that on the sidelines it was attorneys, judges and me, one of 2 stay at home moms on the team. Not your average group of soccer moms.<br>
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I have to say that it bothered me more than I would like to admit. There was a time, that feels seriously too long ago to have fit into my 44 years, that I was so career-driven. I was going to attend college at one that provided internships in New York City and I was going to study advertising.<br>
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And then, I can't remember why it was prompted - most likely something to do with my dad's death months before high school graduation, but I had the realization that I would be devoting my career to encouraging people to buy what they didn't want or need and it lost it's appeal overnight.<br>
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Instead, I pursued a career in the non-profit sector. I was a grant writer, public relations, special event organizer all in one. And this was before the internet was huge and I am embarrassed to say, when email was the most popular mode of communication.<br>
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I loved my job. I worked for a non-profit that supported folks with disabilities and I loved it. But then, we wanted to have a baby. After 2 heartbreaking miscarriages, when I finally was pregnant with my girl but my work was encouraging me to take phone calls and stop into the office during my maternity leave, my priorities shifted. <div><br></div><div>We didn't have local family to help with child care and the idea of handing over my 8 week old baby to a stranger to spend all day with, I just couldn't do it. It just was not the right decision for us.<br>
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I figured I'd stay home until she was in kindergarten. But then she had a sister and then another. And then the local schools didn't work for my girl and we began homeschooling. And then her siblings saw all the time she was spending with me and wanted that too. The next year, we ended up homeschooling them all.<br>
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So, I started out wanting to work as an advertising exec in NYC and ended up a stay at home mom who homeschools her 3 kids.<br>
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No, it's not a path I could have ever imagined for myself and surely would even have judged harshly in my younger years. But it's what has evolved from answering the same question over and over, "What is best for my kids?"<br>
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My kids see the difference between the families with 2 incomes vs. stay at home moms. They hear their teammates travelling; living in far larger & fancier homes; taking all the classes, lessons they want, etc., etc. I just hope that my kids see the value in the decisions that we have made.<br>
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They must see the differences in the attitudes of the mothers themselves. I found myself watching the moms as much as the kids on the field. Their expectations of their kids were high. Their cheers were more directive than supportive. It was just a completely different energy. I began to think, what must my daughter think when she perceives the difference. I hope that she doesn't think her mother is "less than."<br>
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On the soccer sidelines, I'm aware of how different my decisions are from theirs. And the difference between me and them. With the benefit of living a few decades and having most of my family pass away, I know these decisions are right for me and us.<br>
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I just hope that my kiddos, in the midst of these fragile tween years, do too.<br>
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<br></div>Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02371895505357913147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3468395435223466121.post-45073805714710796892015-09-18T06:31:00.000-07:002015-10-01T16:45:07.123-07:00JugglingOften, when I tell my husband something that's happened during our day, usually a thing that's gone wrong, which has come to such as surprise to me, he laughs and says, "Becky, you say this every time." I guess that's the difference between optimist me and realist him.<br>
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So it should come as no surprise to me that despite my best efforts, the reality of getting everyone to the right location at the assigned time for whatever it is they've asked to be signed up for trumps my carefully planned schedule. After 2 weeks of figuring out how to fit everything into an unrushed schedule with plenty of time for projects, nature walks, and all the good stuff, along comes soccer practices, travelling teams, tennis team, science classes, etc.<br>
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With the exception of sports, which we like to have the girls consistently in throughout the year, there are few things that my kids insist on signing up for. There are so many opportunities where we live that every day could be completely filled and I would spend my days behind the wheel.<br>
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When I started homeschooling just my oldest, I did have her enrolled in art, science, dance, etc. because I was unsure about my skills as her teacher and I only had her to shuttle around. Now that there are 3, I'm just going to have to risk that my kids will be left behind intellectually and in their futures because the consequences of the "juggling" just aren't worth it for our family.<br>
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I guess for the right choice for our family still is choosing the far less popular, slower pace.<div><br></div><div>So, I'll keep trying to juggle our schedule to a reasonable degree. But I'm going to choose peace and less stress every time.<br>
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<br></div>Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02371895505357913147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3468395435223466121.post-6030901644353923122015-09-10T06:53:00.001-07:002015-09-10T08:19:35.771-07:00RoutineAfter waking up super early and having everything ready for the first day of homeschool, the kids had to wake ME on the second. Oops. I guess it's good that they know their mom isn't perfect.<br>
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I don't want to jinx things, but our past 2 days of school have been organized, productive and fun. Maybe it's because my youngest is now in first grade and is a bit more independent? All summer she said over and over again that she didn't want to do schoolwork. But the minute she realized that she was doing similar work to her older sisters, she was in 100%.<br>
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My goal is to make time for some of the very imortant subjects that were falling by the wayside when we run short on time. I've had quite a journey in my health these past two years and I want to impart some of that knowledge to the kids from the get-go so they don't require a health scare to get it right.<br>
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One of those is meditation. Scientific studies now prove what I experienced myself. Tremendous, identifiable benefits from even the quickest meditation routine. I found some great books on meditation and yoga that honor the perspective of a young child who is going to find deep breathing through your diaphragm hysterical.<br>
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My favorite is Breathe, Chill - A Handy Book of Games and Techniques Introducing Breathing, Meditation and Relaxation to Kids and Teens by Lisa Roberts. It was very inexpensive on Amazon and well worth it. All my kids love it (ages 6-12).<br>
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The other topic is faith. I was raised from birth as a Catholic. My mom was Catholic; my dad a non practicing Episcopalian. We went to church every week and holidays but that was about it. We didn't have family prayer despite the fact that I know my mom had a tremendous faith. It just was not talked about much in our home.<br>
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That "holy on Sundays only" was one of the reasons that I left the church from my college years through my 30's. I felt like I should either be Catholic all the time or none. And I also didn't have enough opportunity to develop my own meaningful relationship with God.<br>
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Funny how the threat of a severe illness crystalizes your beliefs in a matter of moments. Needless to say, we've been back to the church since 2014 and as my younger self would have wished, we're practicing catholicism all week long.<br>
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That being said, we are also starting every day with a quick bit of cathecism. Another good book I found, Totally Catholic by Mary Glavich.<br>
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Each chapter touches on a topic: What is faith?, What is the Sacrament of Penance? What is Involved in Honesty?, etc. They also include a scripture link, a couple of quick "Did you know?" facts and a very brief biography of a saint. It's a great opportunity for the kids to ask questions and discuss and only took about 15 minutes to go through the chapter.<br>
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This morning, I got up early enough to have plenty of time to myself prepping for the day. That included some work on Purlsmith (my Etsy shop that sells freshwater pearl and silver stitch markers). I can't tell you how much fun I had playing with pearls and acorn caps. Just enough to make my creative side feel satisfied before I devote the day to the kids.<br>
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Time to go work on the schedule in Excel and see if I can find the perfect blend of planned with room for going off on tangents, our specialty.<br>
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Have fun<br>
-Becky<br>
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<br>Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02371895505357913147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3468395435223466121.post-82850620366065577812015-09-08T06:07:00.000-07:002015-09-08T15:14:11.040-07:00Fresh Start to a New Year<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjThovXsdlsjIAKhxfm4TrumWqadhbzdI9DJGyk8I5RereADnQK3l2kk4-5ORHvM-3uHzoglMywLBMx_KKGWYTY6UlJJgYl-P0hI3h2Vn-HHbBjEGAT-9RiQ2KnZw6BqjaweYgRCu42Ul90/s640/blogger-image--1505358169.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjThovXsdlsjIAKhxfm4TrumWqadhbzdI9DJGyk8I5RereADnQK3l2kk4-5ORHvM-3uHzoglMywLBMx_KKGWYTY6UlJJgYl-P0hI3h2Vn-HHbBjEGAT-9RiQ2KnZw6BqjaweYgRCu42Ul90/s640/blogger-image--1505358169.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div><br></div>I've been up since 3:30am - could not sleep with anticipation about today - the first day of the new school year. I'm not sure if it's the fact that my youngest starts first grade or if it's my worries about being able to manage it all this year. Either way, I'm up. And as tradition has it in our household, I'm making homemade cinnamon rolls for our first morning's breakfast. They are gluten, dairy & corn free and still somehow taste delicious.<br>
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I'm intrigued to see what happens this school year. This summer was unlike any other. I broke my foot in mid-May, ended up having surgery and remained flat on my back for 2 weeks followed by about 10 weeks of very limited movement. So the plans of backyard parties, hiking, biking, swimming, etc all went away quickly. I still have a month of recovery to go. I can walk only short distances, can't walk on uneven ground and have limited foot mobility... but I'm getting there and am extremely grateful for every tiny advance I make.<br>
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Our summer was very quiet. At first, it seemed completely awful and made me so mad at myself for tripping and breaking my foot in the first place. Convinced that I had ruined my kids' summer, I'm sure I was a difficult patient. Sorry, Lled. But then, we settled into the quiet pace and ended up loving it. I mean, I couldn't drive - it was my driving foot that was hurt - so going too many places was not an option. The schedule was cut to the girls' favorite events - tennis lessons every day for the whole summer, trips to the pool & local concerts were our entertainment. Otherwise, there was a lot of time at home.<br>
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You would think I'd have used that time very wisely and be prepared at an unprecedented level for the new school year. Um, no. Quite the opposite. Turns out that when you are in constant pain, researching curriculum isn't top of the list. The funny thing was, I was as busy as ever with the kids; the only difference was I was lying on the couch. Lilly and I read a lot and colored together. The older girls did craft projects alongside me and snuck into the space next to me for endless cuddles.<br>
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Of course, there were times when they were arguing and there was nothing I could do about it but sit and listen. But when they were getting along and I got used to sitting down for long periods of time, it was actually kind of nice. I mean, I'm always saying we're too busy and that we need a time-out from our busy-ness. I guess God was listening because I sure did get a break.<br>
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But the take-away of the summer is that I truly appreciated the quiet time with my family. I honestly refuse to continue with these insane, busy schedules because it's become the status quo. Sure, my kids would benefit from the 200 options available to fill their afterschool, evening and weekend hours. But we actually got to relax this summer and I have to tell you, I like that family a lot more than I like the stressed, busy one racing here and there.<br>
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Do I think we can have a completely relaxed school year? No, it's doubtful. <div><br></div><div>But I sure think that we can select in which activities to participate and decline others, no matter how wonderful they are. Am I worried about taking my kids out of some of these when so many of their peers will continue with them? Sure. But like this summer. They will survive, develop and thrive just as well.<br>
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So my goal for this year is to foster each child to pursue what they love; to enable them to deeply learn valuable information of importance while encouraging an atmosphere of mindfulness and to continue to develop our "village." We'll see how it goes.<br>
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Cheers<br>
-Becky<br>
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<br></div>Beckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02371895505357913147noreply@blogger.com0